Habs finalize roster; projected lineups

As the National Hockey League‘s 2017-2018 preseason schedule came to an end last weekend, franchises are scrambling to put together their final rosters ahead of Tuesday evening’s league-imposed deadline. Each team must submit their 23-man roster before 5:00pmET, and the Montreal Canadiens have already established who’s sticking around and who’s out.

After reassigning goaltenders Zach Fucale and Michael McNiven along with enigmatic forward Nikita Scherbak to their AHL affiliate Laval Rocket on Friday, the Habs proceeded to make their final roster cuts on Monday. Charlie Lindgren (G) will report to the Rocket as well, while Andreas Martinsen (F) and Byron Froese (F) were placed on waivers. Should the latter two players go unclaimed by noon on Tuesday, they will also report to Laval.

This means that the following players will make up the roster when the curtain opens on the regular season schedule on Thursday night as the Habs pay a visit to their Atlantic Division rivals Buffalo Sabres. Here are my projected lineups: